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I'd been meaning to write an Advanceshipping fic for some time and after the successful debut of my Chikoshipping fic I decided now was as good a time as any. This is rated PG-13 for mild innuendo, violence, peril and maybe a bit of suggested nudity. Who knows, most of this is still up in the air right now.

I have no set plans for an update schedule - Advanceshipping is my most loved 'ship and so I want to make this fic as good as I can. It'll be chaptered and the shippiness will slowly grow as time progresses. This fic takes place just after Floarama Town during the Diamond and Pearl anime series, so all ages given are relative.

Advanceshipping is the primary basis of this fic, though other 'ships will be referenced as time goes on. Please let me know what you think, as I'm eager to hear any input you may have. Please feel free to reply and ask to be put on a PM list if you'd like to get regular updates.

It was yet another beautiful day in the Sinnoh region, just east of Floarama Town, and Ash, Brock, Dawn and Pikachu were all making their way towards Ash's next Gym battle in Eterna City. In order to get there, however, they would need to go through Eterna Forest, which was still several miles north of their current location. Brock thoroughly checked the region map which lay spread out in his hands as they continued along the path towards Eterna, occasionally flipping it by ninety degrees just in case he had forgotten which way north was.

"Pikachu..." the small mouse commented, poking Ash on the ear nervously.

Dawn, meanwhile, was not in the least bit worried about Brock's lack of map-reading skills. The girl with the navy blue hair and white bobble hat simply stared wide-eyed at the orange ribbon in her possession, her eyes sparkling like gemstones as she savoured the delicious taste of victory that had come with her first ever win at a Pokemon contest.

"Heh, you're still pretty excited about your first ever contest win, huh, Dawn?" Ash remarked, slowing down his pace slightly so that he was walking beside the girl.

"It's just..." Dawn muttered, still unable to remove the enormous grin from her face. "It's just such a great feeling! As much as I've dreamt of this, it's still kind of hard to accept it all!"

"Hey, trust me, I know just how you feel!" Ash explained, looking up towards the sky as he spoke. "I still feel that way every time I win a new badge. And that's why I can't wait to get to Eterna city and win my second Sinnoh Gym battle!"

"And I'll be ready to add to my ribbon collection, too!" Dawn giggled, finally returning her contest trophy to its case and placing it in her backpack. "I'm sure you'll do great, Ash!"

"Thanks, Dawn." Ash replied confidently as Pikachu hopped onto his cap for a better view of the hill they were now descending. "I also can't wait to see even more Pokemon from the Sinnoh region!"

The group's attention soon shifted from their conversation as they heard the sound of laughter and cheering from further down the hill. There was a small trail leading off of the main road and into the gates of what appeared to be a large carnival. The gates were decorated with banners and balloons, each masterfully crafted with beautiful and vibrant images of Pokemon.

Beside the gates were two men in clown-like outfits with large flares on their sleeves and ankles, all completely coloured in bright yellow. They were happily handing out fliers to visitors before ushering them into the carnival grounds.

"Oh wow!" Dawn exclaimed excitedly, immediately dashing towards the gate to get a closer look at the action.

"Hey, Dawn!" Ash called out after the girl. "Wait up! Let's go, Brock!"

Brock groaned slightly at this, but nevertheless packed the map into his bag and chased after his two younger companions as they rushed towards the trail which led to the gates.

Sure enough it was a carnival, and from the looks of it quite a large one, as well. Just beyond the white metal gates was what looked like a veritable metropolis of rides and attractions, and hundreds upon hundreds of people were casually wandering between the stalls. In the sky there were numerous Drifloon floating above the proceedings, mingling with balloons and keeping visitors on the ferris wheel entertained.

"That's not a problem!" came the voice of a tall young woman - looking no older than eighteen - with jet black hair and bright, hazel eyes. She was wearing a light-grey business suit and tall high-heeled shoes as well as oval-shaped glasses which glistened in the afternoon sun. "It's free admission for everyone today. The only things that cost money are the attractions."

"Urk!" Brock stammered, before leaping onto his knee and grabbing the woman by the hand. "My dear, do not fear, for no amount of money would ever keep me from gracing your wonderful establishment! Your sheer beauty is worth more than any mere bank note could possibly convey! Men with determination far less than mine have travelled the world, crossed raging seas and walked across bone-dry deserts to find the true definition of beauty, and yet I have found it here, right in the middle of route 205!"

There was an awkward silence at this point, the wind picking up and rushing through the valley as Ash, Dawn and the woman all watched Brock in confusion.

"If it's free I don't see why we can't spend a little time here to rest up," Ash began, walking up towards the young woman, "and besides, it'd probably do us all good to let off some stress from the journey, right?"

"Ash, you're the best!" Dawn exclaimed happily, jumping up and down on the spot. "I'm gonna get some cotton candy, and then I'm gonna try the coconut shy, and then I'll ride in the ferris wheel, and then-"

"Woah, calm down there, missy." the woman laughed casually. "My name's Alisa and this is my carnival. Well, it's my father's, but I help run the attractions."

"It's great to meet you, Alisa." Ash introduced himself as he shook her hand. "My name's Ash, and these are my friends Brock, Dawn and Pikachu."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu greeted the human cheerily as Dawn managed to compose herself, waving to Alisa. Brock meanwhile, was unable to do anything but stare awkwardly.

"It's great to meet you guys, too!" Alisa chuckled, handing each of them a flier. "Our carnival's only in this area for the weekend and there's a lot for you to see, so I'll be sure not to hold you up! If you need anything I'm always inside the main tent. Just tell the guys outside your names and I'll be happy to help you out!"

The group then proceeded to thank Alisa before heading through the gates and into the chaos of the carnival, soon mingling and vanishing together into the crowd.

The carnival grounds were as bustling as any major city in the Sinnoh region; visitors of all ages were happily browsing open-air stalls and lining up for amusement rides. Several street performers were displaying magic tricks and other acts of wonder with the help of their Pokemon, and large tents of every colour adorned the grounds, giving the impression of a thriving, mobile city.

"I wonder if they have any rare Pokemon on display!" Ash thought out loud as the trio continued to make their way deeper into the fairgrounds.

"Pikachu Pika!" Pikachu added excitedly from atop Ash's head.

"I'm gonna go look around by myself, if that's okay with you guys." Dawn suggested, her eyes already drawn to numerous gift stores and souvenir items that they had passed. "Why don't we meet up later?"

"That sounds like a great idea, Dawn!" Ash chuckled. "I can't think of anything worse than having to go follow a girl around a carnival."

"What do you mean by that!?" Dawn growled, almost offended by the naive boy's words.

"Uh, I just mean," Ash mumbled nervously in his defence, "I was just saying that I'd rather go check out other trainer's Pokemon, is all. I'll bet there's tonnes of powerful trainers here, too; just look at all these people!"

"And tonnes of beautiful girls, too!" Brock added, his grin stretching from ear to ear as he stared at the many young ladies passing by.

"Don't worry, Dawn," Ash laughed, "you go off and have fun. We'll meet up with you later."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu squeaked as both it and Ash waved goodbye to the young girl.

Ash then proceeded to grab Brock by the arm, dragging him down yet another path which led deeper into the carnival grounds.

~*~*~

Dawn was positively overwhelmed by the sheer volume of selection the carnival had on offer as she browsed through the many stalls which lined the dusty roads to and from each tent. There were stuffed dolls and commemorative Pokeballs on sale in one store, cotton candy and chocolate Bunearys in another. It was truly enough to make a young girl's head spin.

After finally willing herself away from the many temptations on sale Dawn decided that the best way to make use of her time here was to see some of the many attractions on display. One tent in particular seemed to call out to her as she wandered further into the carnival: it was coloured a deep, dark red and covered an enormous radius - roughly the same size as a football field - and its front entrance had a curiously short line trailing from it.

Dawn's curiosity was instantly peaked and she decided to get a closer look at the action. There were several trainers outside with their Pokemon, all of them seemingly locked in deep concentration with their chosen partners.

"Must be some kind of battle tournament going on..." Dawn mused out loud as she glanced at all of the trainers before walking into a young lady standing directly in her path.

"Ah!" Dawn yelped in surprise before immediately bowing her head and apologising profusely. "I'm so sorry, I really need to watch where I'm going before I-"

"It's no problem at all, young lady!" came a soft, gentle voice which Dawn had become all too familiar with since she left from her home in Twinleaf Town to start her Pokemon journey just a month or so ago.

Dawn looked up at the woman, who had vivid, pink hair tied up in two buns on either side of her head and was clad entirely in a nurse's outfit. It was none other than nurse Joy - or one of her numerous cousins, at least.

"Nurse Joy!" Dawn greeted, putting a smile on her face as she realised she was in friendly company. "What are you doing here? Are you helping to run the Pokemon Centre here or something?"

"Well, there is that," Joy replied, smiling her typically endearing smile as she spoke, "but I've also been asked to be on the panel of judges for the carnival's Pokemon contest later today."

"Pokemon contest!?" Dawn exclaimed in a mixture of both surprise and excitement.

"Why yes," Joy continued, "that's what all these Pokemon coordinators are training so hard for. It'll be held at three o'clock in this tent, so everyone's putting in as much last-minute training as they can."

"Oh, wow!" Dawn squealed happily, quickly rummaging through her backpack to find her Pokeballs. "So that means if I can win this I'll only need three more ribbons to enter the Sinnoh Grand Festival!"

"Ah..." nurse Joy mumbled, interrupting the rather overly excited trainer that was standing in front of her. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but this is only an exhibition contest. The ribbon prize isn't a part of the official Pokemon Contest League ribbons."

"Oh..." Dawn sighed, though she quickly brightened up once again. "Well, that's okay! A ribbon is a ribbon and I never say no to a practice contest!"

"That's the spirit!" Joy laughed, entertained by the girl's bubbly attitude. "You just need to register inside the tent. Most coordinators have already registered so the line is pretty short; I'm sure it won't take you too long."

"Thanks, nurse Joy!" Dawn giggled, rushing over to join the back of the line where she opened up one of the Pokeballs she had taken from her bag. "Come on out, Piplup!"

A dim flash of light appeared from the girl's capsule, revealing a small blue baby Pokemon which resembled a penguin. The Pokemon stared up at its trainer curiously, wondering what all the big fuss was about.

"Piplup!" Dawn explained happily, kneeling down next to the Water-type Pokemon and grinning, causing Piplup to nervously back away. "We're gonna enter another Pokemon contest! And we're gonna win another ribbon!"

"That's the spirit!" Dawn encouraged the small creature eagerly. "We'll prove to everyone why we won the Floarama Town ribbon!"

"Pip-lup!" Piplup added confidently.

Sure enough, as nurse Joy had predicted the registration line quickly dissipated and soon Dawn and Piplup were both standing proudly before the registration counter where a young girl with navy blue hair and thick, round glasses was taking down applicant details.

"Name?" the girl asked with a sigh in her voice. She seemed to be completely bored out of her mind, though Dawn was so confident of her upcoming victory that she paid it no heed.

"Dawn Hikari!" Dawn answered, placing Piplup onto the counter where it stood proudly, pretending to be a famous statue. "And this is my partner, Piplup!"

"Ah, I think I'll have Piplup battle again..." Dawn considered out loud, her grin quickly returning to a more normal smile as she began to contemplate her choices for the appeal round. "Ah, well, I guess I'll enter Buneary for the appeals, too."

"Alright." the girl responded, jotting down some notes on a piece of paper in front of her. "So that's Dawn Hikari, entering with Buneary in the appeal stage and Piplup in the battle stage. Sign here, please."

"Thanks!" Dawn said, quickly jotting down her name and contact details on the contest application form before handing it back to the girl.

"Piplup!" Piplup added, struggling slightly as its trainer picked it back up and placed it on the ground by her feet once again.

"Alright, you're registered." the receptionist explained. "The contest begins at three o'clock, but you should stay around here just in case we need to call you up early."

Dawn nodded happily, accepting her temporary contestant card and placing it around her neck before heading over to the far corner of the tent to formulate her strategy. Casually the young girl placed her backpack on the floor and began to rummage through the pocket which contained her Pokeballs, eventually withdrawing Buneary's and releasing the small, Normal-type Pokemon with the brown fur and large ears out into the open.

Buneary was a small and short Pokemon which vaguely resembled a tame rabbit; it stood on its large, powerful hind legs and stared up at its trainer with its shimmering black eyes. It didn't seem particularly phased by the hustle and bustle of the other trainers who were busy practicing in the tent, and instead simply waited for its orders.

"Alright you guys, listen up!" Dawn announced, kneeling down so that she was at the same eye-level as her Pokemon as they listened intently to her plans for the upcoming contest. "We've gotta pull out all the stops for this contest! It may just be an exhibition match, but that's no reason to slack! Buneary, how about trying out your Ice Beam?"

"Buneary!" the small Pokemon cried out, shooting forth an icy cold ray of blue energy up towards the ceiling of the tent, stopping narrowly before it managed to cause any damage.

Dawn's train of thought was broken when she heard another young girl's voice calling out to her own Pokemon. Dawn wasn't quite certain, but there was something about the tone of this voice... The way that she commanded her Pokemon's full attention so completely, yet with such style and grace...

The young coordinator looked over towards the source of the voice to see another young girl, roughly two or so years older than herself, dressed in a light, red jacket and tight black shorts, her brunette hair tied together underneath a vivid red bandana with a white Pokeball marking on the side. She had bright, sapphire-blue eyes that seemed to absorb all the light in the tent, and a fair complexion which was filled with vibrance and energy.

The girl gracefully caught a red plastic disc which came flying into her hand, shortly followed by the girl's Pokemon, a vividly colourful Beautifly that stretched out its wings happily as it landed on its trainer's arm.

"Your Silver Wind has really improved, Beautifly." the girl complimented her Pokemon, feeding it a small purple cube which the creature eagerly lapped up, flapping its wings happily.

"Yep, this is Beautifly." the stranger responded, smiling warmly. "It's actually the first Pokemon I ever caught back in Hoenn."

"Oh, so you're from Hoenn?" Dawn echoed, her tone of voice showing how impressed she was. "That explains the clothes. Sinnoh's a lot colder, just to warn you!"

"Heh, thanks." the girl chuckled, allowing her Beautifly to take flight back into the air where it began to shadow-tackle, prepping itself for the upcoming contest. "I've only been here for a little while. This is actually my first contest in this region. My name's May."

May extended her hand warmly, which Dawn eagerly shook.

"Nice to meet you, May." she greeted. "My name's Dawn. So I guess you and I will be facing off in the contest, huh?"

"I'd like that, Dawn!" May laughed, smiling as she did so. "I'm really excited to see all the different kinds of Pokemon that the coordinators here use!"

"Oh, right!" Dawn agreed, before turning to make way for Buneary and Piplup, who were standing by her feet listening to the two coordinators talk. "Well then let me be the first to introduce you to Piplup and Buneary. They're both from Sinnoh, born and raised!"

"Heh, you seem to have quite a way with Pokemon, May." Dawn commented as the other girl got to her feet, returning her Beautifly into its Pokeball.

"I don't know if I'd say that..." May answered nervously, rubbing the back of her head with her hand. "I guess I've just been around Pokemon for such a long time now that they're no different than humans in my eyes."

"Huh..." Dawn mused, watching the girl as she returned Beautifly's Pokeball back into the Pokeball compartment on her fanny pack.

"Attention coordinators!" came the voice of nurse Joy over a system loudspeaker which echoed throughout the entirety of the contest tent. "Please enter backstage to begin judging preparations for the first round of the contest!"

"Well... I guess the show's about to begin..." Dawn mused, staring up towards the ceiling of the tent in an attempt to locate the nearest loudspeaker.

"Let's go together, Dawn!" May suggested. "I'd feel a lot happier entering the contest with a friendly face than all by myself."

"Oh, sure!" Dawn agreed. "Me too!"

Dawn quickly recalled her Pokemon into their Pokeballs and with that the two coordinators headed towards the backstage of the tent, where already a sizeable queue of hopeful contestants had formed.

Last edited by Gazmof; 26th October 2008 at 9:01 PM.
Reason: Edited table of contents and PM list.

Nice, another Advanceshipping fic. I like the way this is going already. Your writing's very good, and it would appear that your pace is very appropriate as well. I loved your description of the carnival and having Dawn and May meet. I might have to read your other stories if this is a testament to your writing ability. Keep up the good work, and hopefully you can update somewhat soon (not rushing you or anything).

Wow that was quick @_@; But hey, thanks very much for the review, Grizzly! I'm glad you enjoy my style of writing. Pace and detail are very important for me when writing fics, so I'm glad that's shown through.

Heh, my entry post makes it sound like I'll be updating once in a blue moon but I assure you it won't be that bad ^^; It's just that with my last chaptered fic I set myself a weekly deadline and towards the end of the story I would constantly get delayed, and that frustrated me as well as my readers, so I want to avoid that if possible with this one. Also as I mentioned before, I'm a huge Advanceshipping nut so I don't want to rush anything and produce garbage.

Well i tried being the first to reply, but due to time differences and other internet stuffy problems, i had to wait until after school. So here i am and happy to be replying second.

Well the mof myster is back! *hugs* And with an Advanceshippy story! ^^ I am a major fan or Advance and i think is was a smart move to write a ship with it! ^^ Ok, as usual, you portrayed this story so vividly that it actuaclly made me want to jump in and find a fairy floss stall! ^^ I like how you kept all your characters in sync; but i do think you should make Ash a bit more dense. And i like how you kept May and Dawn with their happy-go-lucky bubbly personality. But I don't know much about Dawn because all i've seen of her, is pics and the japanese version of the dp series on the internet vids coz it hasn't aired in our part yet. -_-''

Thanks for writing another fic to make my free time funner! ^^ Your faithful fan, Keep Smiling! << And how do you make all your good banners?

Great start. I wonder what May's doing in Sinnoh, but it seems she looks happy and all...so I'm making what maybe a false presumption that this will be a light-headed happy fic .

Cutting long the long story short, The presentation and flow of language is pretty good as well as the in-characterness (no jumping to anime POV unnatural scenes ). Your writing is pretty enjoyable.
Keep up the flow!

Hmmm, I'm gonna like this fic, I think it's very well written. You really capture the characters very well and make them react to each other naturally. You also got a natural sense of writing out the scenes, I think it's excellent how you introduced May in this story. I hope to see more of these in the future, you have a good knack for writing. Plus you writing my OTP pairing gives an extra million points too. :P

Uh, wow O_O; I didn't expect such a huge response, but it's more than welcome ^^ Since I'm feeling in a posting mood tonight I'll try and answer all of your reviews individually

Originally Posted by anime_aficionada

Well the mof myster is back! *hugs* And with an Advanceshippy story! ^^ I am a major fan or Advance and i think is was a smart move to write a ship with it! ^^ Ok, as usual, you portrayed this story so vividly that it actuaclly made me want to jump in and find a fairy floss stall! ^^ I like how you kept all your characters in sync, but i do think you should make Ash a bit more dense. And i like how you kept May and Dawn with their happ-go-lucky bubbly personality. But I don't know much about Dawn because all i've seen of her is pics and the japanese version of the dp series on liek internet vid coz it hasn't aired in our part yet. -_-''

Haha, thanks, your free time is always my priority. Looks like we just missed each other in our posts yesterday, but it's great to have a regular return to read another fic of mine. A great honour, I should say, really.

As for the banners... Years with Photoshop'll do that to ya ^^; Actually I want to go back and correct it because now when I look at it I notice Dawn's not entirely central T_T;

Originally Posted by EarthBorn

Great start. I wonder what May's doing in Sinnoh, but it seems she looks happy and all...so I'm making what maybe a false presumption that this will be a light-headed happy fic .

Cutting long the long story short, The presentation and flow of language is pretty good as well as the in-characterness (no jumping to anime POV unnatural scenes ). Your writing is pretty enjoyable.
Keep up the flow!

Heh, thanks for the review. The reason May is in Sinnoh will be revealed shortly, most likely in the next chapter unless I decide to have a shake-up. The beauty of a chaptered fic is you can pull the reader in slowly. I don't want to jump the gun and spoil everything for you guys on the first post, right? ^^;

Gah, I hate when fics start dashing about from different points of view; you never know where you are from one minute to the next, so yes, I'll try to avoid that as much as possible. Thanks for your compliments!

Originally Posted by buster_wolf

Hmmm, I'm gonna like this fic, I think it's very well written. You really capture the characters very well and make them react to each other naturally. You also got a natural sense of writing out the scenes, I think it's excellent how you introduced May in this story. I hope to see more of these in the future, you have a good knack for writing. Plus you writing my OTP pairing gives an extra million points too. :P

Just remember you owe me a second Bayleef-tan ^_~

Espeongirl, I noticed your post before it mysteriously disappeared. Thanks for the comment!

Originally Posted by top-dog

Nice fic I also want to know why May is in sinnoh, but I definetly want to know how Ash would react if he sees her. Can't wait for the next update

Haha, Ash will find out soon enough, I assure you. Thanks for the review

I don't like Advanceshipping at all, but I had to read the first chapter of your new work. Your writing is really good and I like your expansive vocabulary and your style. Keep up the great work! I'll keep my eye on your stuff. Hehe.

Well, you know how much I love your writing, Gaz. I'm insanely curious how this is all going to go and how all of it is going to turn out in the end. I trust where ever you decide to take it you'll do an amazing job. As usual, you do a great job keeping everyone in character.

My only thought was why didn't Croagunk come out of its ball and give Brock a good ol' jab? ^_~

Anyways, definitely loving this so far. I hope you find the time to continue it soon!

Yay, another advanceshipping fanfic, it so good to see that a lot of people are standing up now to write them!
There hasn't been any advanceshipping yet, but I'm guessing that there will be in the next chap. Nice description! And I love your writing style. If it's not too much, will you put me on your pm list(if you're making one)? it would help tons!

I don't like Advanceshipping at all, but I had to read the first chapter of your new work. Your writing is really good and I like your expansive vocabulary and your style. Keep up the great work! I'll keep my eye on your stuff. Hehe.

basicly what I wanted to say ^_^'
won't start a flame war or anything, but the simple concept of AdvanceShipping, when I really think hard about it, makes me feel like I'm about to throw up :-/
just wanted to say that so that you know what an effort I'm doing here

the only true AS story I read was "May's Crush" because it ruled, exceptionnal fic, but I couldn't continue with the sequel...just couldn't...

so for the same reasons that I read that one, I'll try and read this one, because I know you're a great author, from your ChikoShipping story, but I can't guarantee you anything, that I'll keep on reading this :-/

before we start, any ideas on how many chapters you plan on doing ?

Originally Posted by Gazmof

"Urk!" Brock stammered, before leaping onto his knee and grabbing the woman by the hand. "My dear, do not fear, for no amount of money would ever keep me from gracing your wonderful establishment!

urgh...this sounded like Brock being cocky and confident, like he's actually a celebrity !
most of the time, he's just stupid and acts like he's nothing when he's like this, but this time he gave me the impression of being more...not serious, but arrogant

Originally Posted by Gazmof

"but I've also been asked to be on the panel of judges for the carnival's Pokemon contest later today."

"Pokemon contest!?" Dawn exclaimed in a mixture of both surprise and excitement.

"Why yes," Joy continued, "that's what all these Pokemon coordinators are training so hard for. It'll be held at three o'clock in this tent, so everyone's putting in as much last-minute training as they can."

and this is how Dawn and May shall meet

Originally Posted by Gazmof

"I've only been here for a little while. This is actually my first contest in this region. My name's May."

As much as this will be great, I'm eager to find out why she's here !
Theroies in fanfics for May appearing in Sinnoh are either : Johto's over, or there really weren't any contests ready in time for the beginning, so it got cancelled...
please let it be something original !

Originally Posted by Gazmof

"I don't know if I'd say that..." May answered nervously, rubbing the back of her head with her hand. "I guess I've just been around Pokemon for such a long time now that they're no different than humans in my eyes."

I find this line beautiful...
It really shows how May has truly matured in time, and that's true in the anime as well (that's what makes it beautiful), that she went from not liking pokemon at all, to loving them and being no different than humans

As I said, besides the main ship I'm not fond of, your writing is superb (kinda remindes me of my style a bit ^_^') and I'll try to be here as much as I can to read this...
except the parts, if there will be any, with AdvanceShipping fluff...I really can't stand those...

so untill the next chapter, keep ths up, it really has a promising future

hi, i really like your writing style. it's very unique and interesting. i like how you paragraphed everything. in the end, very good start.
im also writing a fic but it's my firstn one. after chapter one, where do i post chapter two?

Dawn groaned as she and May stood in a line which stretched for what seemed like miles through the small waiting hall located towards the rear of the contest tent, waiting for the queue to eventually diminish. There was a cool breeze which flowed through the area; a welcome change to the stuffy heat of the Sinnoh region's midsummer days, but this did little to comfort Dawn as she stood there, bored, with absolutely nothing to do.

"You would've thought they'd at least put some TV on here or that we could watch something while waiting..." Dawn whined, slumping forward slightly as she spoke.

"Heh, well, it's not like it's an official contest or anything..." May replied rather awkwardly, though she couldn't completely disagree with the idea.

"At least give us some free candy or something!" Dawn moaned, massaging her stomach gently in response to its constant rumbling. "I never even got to buy that chocolate Buneary I wanted..."

"Ah..." May sighed, closing her eyes with a heavenly expression on her face. "Chocolate... Would be so good right now..."

"Next in line, please!" came the voice of nurse Joy, quickly snapping the two girls out of their respective daydreams. May sheepishly stepped up to the counter, placing her two chosen Pokeballs down on the desk for the woman behind the desk to inspect.

Nurse Joy took the capsules and placed them on what looked like a small conveyer belt underneath a monitor. They were then moved from one side to the other, causing the monitor to print out several readings whilst flashing in different colours until eventually the machine stopped and Joy returned the Pokeballs to their owner, along with a contestant identification card.

"Thank you for registering, May." the woman said, smiling. "And good luck!"

"Thanks!" May responded, placing the two Pokeballs inside her fanny pack and slinging the card around her neck before wandering over to the other side of the corridor to wait for Dawn's official registration to take place.

It wasn't long before Dawn's Pokemon had been officially qualified for the contest and she hurried over to where May was standing.

"I'm kind of surprised..." May mused as they made their way together towards the main waiting room which had several television screens hanging from the ceiling and numerous large, comfortable-looking red sofas for the gathered coordinators to make use of. "For an unofficial contest this place sure is packed with contestants. And they all look really tough, too..."

"Ha, well, they'd better be prepared to lose, because the Floarama Town contest winner isn't planning on coming any less than first place!" came Dawn's eager response as she clenched her fists tightly, fire burning in her eyes.

"Oh wow, so you've already won a Sinnoh ribbon?" May enquired, looking impressed. Dawn simply grinned and gave her a thumbs-up.

"Yep." the young girl answered. "It's actually my first ribbon. It's the start of great things for me as a top Pokemon coordinator! I wanna equal my Mom, too!"

"Aww, your Mom was a coordinator, too?" May asked, smiling. "That's so cool!"

"Heh, yeah!" Dawn continued with excitement taking over her voice. "This is gonna be so awesome! Oh, I almost forgot!"

"Hm?" May paused, taking her eyes off the competition which surrounded the two of them and returning her gaze to the younger girl. "What is it?"

"Ah, it's nothing..." Dawn chuckled, waving away May's comment. "I was just thinking I haven't even told my friends I'm entering this. But I'm sure they'll probably come and take a look as soon as they hear about it anyway."

"Yeah, I think so." May laughed casually, looking over towards a nearby television monitor as it began to flicker into life, showing the vivid, red stage where contestants would be performing. "This place is tough to miss, even without all the coordinators here."

Dawn and May both fell silent as they listened intently to the words of the announcer being emitted from the room's loudspeakers.

"Thank you contestants for your applications!" her voice boomed. "But due to such a high volume of applicants we have had to implement a 'sudden-death' preliminary round to strip us down to sixty-four primary contestants."

"Sudden-death?" Dawn echoed, her face suddenly forming a much more serious expression.

"Huh..." May wondered, glancing down towards her fanny pack where her Pokeballs were lying in wait. "I know you're up to the challenge, Beautifly."

"Contestants will now have thirty seconds each to perform an appeal with their chosen appeal Pokemon. Those sixty-four coordinators who score sufficiently high enough will go on to the next round. All contestants will be called in alphabetical order, starting with their last names. So without further ado please prepare for your appeals, starting now!"

The crowd of coordinators immediately fell into hushed voices and muffled tones as they discussed this sudden change of events with mixed feelings. Dawn looked up towards May nervously, who just gave an awkward smile.

"Well, I guess I'd better get ready..." she chuckled hesitantly.

"Pretty stupid if you ask me." came the rough, husky voice of a boy looking to be around sixteen years of age. Both Dawn and May turned to face this stranger, surprised by his sudden emergence.

"What do you mean?" Dawn questioned the boy, who smirked.

"Isn't it obvious?" he explained. "Sudden-death appeals are pretty much like a lottery. One slip-up and you're out of there, regardless of your talent as a coordinator."

May frowned slightly at the boy, who had jet black hair which was cut short at the top, growing long into a ponytail which flowed into the back of his collar. He possessed dark brown eyes and sharp facial features, and wore a dark-blue baseball cap which was slanted at an angle, along with a light-grey jacket, black t-shirt and baggy, navy-blue jeans that covered the majority of his sneakers. He had no bag, but the six Pokeballs clipped to his waist seemed to be the only things he needed.

"I don't think, so, really." May argued politely. "I believe in my Pokemon, and I know that they'll perform well no matter how much pressure is on them."

"Ha, that's cute." the boy sneered, removing one of his hands from his jacket pocket and running it through his hair. "Real cute. You must be one of those people who thinks a friendship between a trainer and a Pokemon makes all the difference."

"I don't think so," May replied sharply, "I know so."

"Well then, I guess I'll just have to prove it to you." the boy chuckled casually, adjusting his cap. "I guarantee you that by the end of this day the name engraved on that ribbon will be 'Nico Cyrax'. Trust me on that."

Dawn said nothing, instead deciding to stay as far away from the conversation as possible. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the room was slowly becoming more and more empty as coordinators were called out to perform their appeals.

"Now ladies and gentlemen," the voice of the announcer called out over the loudspeaker as yet another coordinator made their way to the main stage, "please welcome Drew Blackthorne!"

The hushed voices and whispering continued to fill the waiting room but May's eyes immediately widened at the announcement of this name, her mind beginning to rush as she stared up at the video monitors in disbelief. Sure enough, there he was; his lime-green hair and matching jacket and lilac pants as unmistakable as ever.

But why was here? Why now? Had he followed her here? Was this his way of getting revenge? Did he want her back? There were just too many questions and none of them could be answered to May's satisfaction.

"Roselia," the young coordinator spoke up, a smirk stretching across his face, "use Petal Dance."

The nimble plant Pokemon standing beside its trainer was coloured a vivid, beautiful green and had a diminutive frame, measuring just under a foot tall. Its hands were not hands, but rather large, luxurious bouquets of finely coloured pink and blue roses, their alluring aroma belying the true power of the Grass-type they belonged to. Upon hearing Drew's command it immediately launched into the air, its root-like feet easily propelling it above the stage where it proceeded to spin its tiny body and launch a shower of vivid rose petals into the contest hall.

"Wow, a magnificent appeal!" came the voice of the announcer, who was seemingly in just as much awe as the rest of the coordinators who stood nervously watching in the waiting room. "This is simply incredible!"

"Just another day in the life of me." Drew sniggered under his breath before raising his arm to convey another message to his Pokemon. "Now Roselia, Giga Drain!"

Roselia nodded to itself, then proceeded to whip its arms, shooting itself down towards the contest stage before shimmering with a faint green light which steadily became stronger and stronger, engulfing every flower petal from the Pokemon's previous attack.

The crowd continued to watch in hushed voices, and even Nico seemed impressed by the efforts of Drew's Pokemon.

Suddenly the petals which now floated steadily in midair came rushing back towards the Pokemon in the centre of the stage, all of which slowly became absorbed back into Roselia. After several moments of rushing leaves and syphoning energy, the stage was clear once again, leaving nothing but a proud Roselia and the ever-confident Drew.

'Wow...' May thought to herself, frowning as she clenched her fists tightly. 'Looks like he hasn't let up since Johto...'

"May, do you know that guy?" Dawn enquired with interest. "You looked kinda awkward when he was performing..."

The girl then paused for a moment, a smile forming on her lips.

"Oh, I get it!" she teased. "You like him, huh? Well, he IS pretty cute..."

"NO!" May yelled, causing everyone in the room to stop and turn to look at the girl. May quickly regained her composure, blushing slightly at the embarrassment of being an awkward centre of attention. "Uh, I'm sorry, Dawn; I didn't mean to raise my voice."

"So you do know him?" Dawn repeated, somewhat nervously.

May sighed a little at this as she contemplated her choice of words, looking up at the television monitor where the next hopeful coordinator was attempting to impress the judges.

"...I thought I did..."

The waiting room had begun to significantly diminish in occupancy at this stage of the rounds and it wasn't long before Nico was called to the stage to show off his appeal. Both May and Dawn watched with interest, curious as to what kind of Pokemon such a mysterious coordinator would bring to the table.

"Next up is Nico Cyrax..." The announcer confirmed. "Please take the stage!"

"Let's go, Vespiquen!" Nico bellowed, launching a red-and-white sphere up into the air which snapped open with a rush of silvery stars. The light from the Pokeball faded slowly, revealing a large, winged Pokemon with a black-and-yellow body and huge, sharp horns protruding from its menacing, alien face.

The entirety of the waiting room seemed to shudder as they watched the appeal unfold on the screen, the creature's many eyes appearing as if they were staring at each and every one of them through the walls, its wings emitting a sinister buzzing noise as it hovered in the centre of the stage, awaiting its command.

"Oh, man..." Dawn swallowed nervously. "Looks mean..."

"What is that?" May wondered out loud, removing a small, red device from her fanny pack which flipped open at the press of a switch.

"Vespiquen," came a monotone robotic voice from the tiny machine, "the Beehive Pokemon. When endangered, grubs from this Pokemon's six-cell honeycomb strike back against its attackers."

"Sounds mean, too..." May agreed, pocketing her Pokedex as she continued to watch Nico's appeal.

"Power Gem, Vespiquen." Nico commanded, clicking his fingers and causing an instant reaction within the Bug-type, which looked up towards the ceiling, causing the large, red jewel embedded in its forehead to glow a deep crimson colour. The room began to darken under the creature's power, when suddenly numerous gems began to appear above the centre of the stage. These gems began to dance around each other, glittering and shimmering in the blood-red ambience of the room.

"Now move into Attack Order!" the coordinator continued.

Vespiquen's wings began to pick up speed and within seconds the entire room became filled with hundreds upon hundreds of swarming insects, blackening and obscuring the many cameras present. The crowd in the waiting room watched in nervous anticipation before finally the cloud of grubs settled, returning to their colony, leaving a beautiful, glittering powder of red gemstone dust which slowly settled onto the stage, sparkling beautifully.

"Wow..." Dawn mumbled. "He's good..."

~*~*~

"Great job, Nico!" nurse Joy rushed over to congratulate the boy on his appeal. "It looks like you're gonna be through for sure!"

"Heh, I never doubted it." Nico agreed, smiling to himself as he returned Vespiquen to its Pokeball.

"We'd like you to stay in the winner's lounge until the rest of the coordinators have made their appeals," Joy continued, "it shouldn't take too long; in fact we're making pretty good progress."

"That's good to hear." Nico replied as the two of them walked further down the corridor and into a much larger, more expansive room than the previous one the boy had been waiting in.

The boy looked up idly towards one of the television monitors which also hung from the ceiling of this room, where yet another coordinator was already conducting their own appeal. Uninterested by such mediocre Pokemon on display, Nico looked around to see if there was anything else to occupy him while he waited, and saw Drew standing against the far wall of the lounge, his arms folded and eyes closed as if he were concentrating on something in his mind.

"Hey," Nico greeted the fellow coordinator, who opened his eyes only slightly to look at the stranger, "nice appeal you made out there. Your Roselia's pretty impressive for an unevolved Pokemon."

"Thanks." the trainer replied, flicking his green hair back idly. "Though I think you need to work on your form."

Nico frowned for a moment, stunned by what he felt to be a stinging insult.

"...What?" he questioned uncertainly.

"Please," Drew groaned with disdain, looking to the side as he spoke, "anyone can throw a powerhouse Pokemon into the ring and show off some flashy tricks. How many contest ribbons do you even have?"

"As a matter of fact I have three!" Nico snarled, trying his best not to raise his voice. "And what about you, huh? You act so cocky, but how can you expect to even consider a victory when you're using such a small and pathetic Pokemon for an appeal?"

"That's funny." Drew smirked, turning his gaze back onto Nico. "I thought you just said it was impressive."

"Heh," Nico mumbled, a smile returning to his face as he regained his composure. "I guess we'll have to let our Pokemon settle this, won't we?"

"Fine." Drew retorted, watching as Nico walked over to the other side of the room towards one of the vending machines where he proceeded to buy himself a soda.

'I don't have time to waste on insects like you...' Drew thought to himself as he watched the rest of the coordinators in the room do their best to relax and unwind after making their best appeals. 'I've come to this region for something much more precious than any ribbon or trophy...'

~*~*~

"Ex..." a huge, towering Pokemon in the shape of a palm tree grunted before finally collapsing in the centre of the makeshift stadium, kicking up dust and debris as it did so.

"Exeggutor, no!" came the voice of a young trainer who immediately rushed over to check on his fainted Pokemon.

"Pathetic." an arrogant voice responded, belonging to another male trainer looking to be around fifteen years of age or so. He possessed hair with a purple hue and wore a baggy blue jacket and a matching pair of pants. As he spoke a small Electric-type Pokemon which measured just under two feet tall came waddling over to him, sparks flickering between its conductor-like ears.

"Hey, I almost had you!" the opponent protested, returning his injured Pokemon to its Pokeball.

"No you didn't." the boy corrected him. "My Elekid destroyed you and didn't even have to think twice about it. Pathetic, considering how we had a type disadvantage, too."

The defeated trainer growled, clenching his fists as the victor walked away without a second thought.

"Good job, Elekid." the winner congratulated his Pokemon in his traditionally cold way.

"Kid." the short Pokemon responded, sharing its trainer's confident walk.

"Hey, Paul!" came a voice which called out from behind.

"Ugh, what now?" the trainer groaned, turning on the spot. "Oh, no..."

"Hey, Paul!" Ash laughed, jogging over to the trainer with Pikachu on his shoulder, Brock trailing behind. "What are you doing here?"

"Ash..." Paul replied, trying not to sound too displeased to see the boy. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Dawn just wanted to see the carnival," Ash explained as Pikachu quickly shifted its position and hopped onto his head, "so we figured why not have some fun?"

"Yeah, that sounds like something you'd do." Paul retorted, watching Elekid snigger from the corner of his eye.

There was a pause as a gentle breeze rushed through the vicinity and left a moment of silence between the three young Pokemon trainers.

"Hey, come on! We're gonna miss it!" came one of many voices which spoke in excited tones as a large group of people passed by. Ash, Brock, Paul and Elekid all stared after the group as they rushed past, presumably in a hurry to see some sight or attraction the carnival was offering.

It was then that Brock noticed a colourful flyer falling gently to the ground, dropped and forgotten by the rush of people. Brock wandered over and picked the paper up from the dusty trail, curious to know what all the fuss was about.

"Oh, wow!" he cheered, a smile forming on his lips. "So this must be where Dawn got to - it's a Pokemon contest!"

"What?" Ash answered, wandering over and peering above Brock's shoulder at the flyer in his hands, which included prints of many strong and nimble-looking Pokemon from the Sinnoh region, some Ash hadn't even seen yet. "Wow. It's not official, but it sounds awesome! I say we should go take a look, don't you think so, Brock?"

"Hey, I know!" Ash exclaimed suddenly, grabbing Paul's wrist, a grin printed across his face. "You should come with us!"

"What!?" Paul snarled, doing his best to pull away from Ash, but the boy proved to have an unexpectedly strong grip. "Let go of me!"

"Come on!" Ash joked casually. "It'll be fun!"

"You gotta be kidding me..." Paul groaned, slowly accepting his fate as he was pulled towards the direction of a large, looming carnival tent where the contest was due to start very soon.

~*~*~

"May Maple, please make your way to the main stage!" came the announcer's voice, snapping the young coordinator out of her conversation.

"Alright, looks like I'm up!" May cheered, her smile lighting up her face as she withdrew the correct Pokeball from her fanny pack and proceeded to dash off towards the main hall and soon came into view on the waiting room monitors, prompting both Dawn and Nico in the waiting lounge to watch the screen closely.

Dawn's appeal had gone extremely well and caused much of the waiting room to grudgingly applaud her talent. Buneary performed a startlingly beautiful dance of Ice Beam and Dizzy Punch, almost guaranteeing the young coordinator a pass into the battle rounds, and now her excitement had channeled itself into a potent combination of both excitement and nervousness as she watched her new friend make her attempt at passing the sudden-death round.

"Beautifly!" May called, twirling on the spot before launching a red-and-white sphere into the air in front of her. "Take the stage!"

Numerous white sparkles filled the screen, eventually being replaced by the figure of the girl's butterfly-like Pokemon which silently and gracefully began to dive through the air, its multi-coloured wings glittering vibrantly for all to see.

Dawn stood in the waiting lounge, watching in awe at the girl's performance; such grace and beauty even put her rival Zoey to shame.

"Alright, Beautifly!" May exclaimed, pointing her finger towards the open stage and smiling knowingly. "You know what to do - use String Shot!"

Beautifly silently acknowledged its trainer's command and began to twirl through the air above the central platform, spewing forth a fine, silvery, silk-like substance which twisted and sculpted itself in accordance with the Bug-type's movements. Soon the Pokemon had finished 'drawing' what appeared to be the rather crude outline of a bow and the silk began to quickly fall to the floor.

"Now Silver Wind from below!" May concluded, raising her arm as a visual signal.

Beautifly reacted at the very instant of its trainer's call, diving down beneath the rapidly deteriorating sculpture before flapping its wings with an intense force, sending a huge blast of metallic powder up towards the ceiling at an alarming speed and covering the silk of its earlier String Shot entirely. The result was an astonishingly beautiful and accurate depiction of the Kanto Grand Festival trophy, even down to the flared ends which looped around behind it.

Dawn and the rest of the waiting lounge could do little but gasp in awe at the Pokemon's achievement, which sparkled with a majestic light before crashing down to the floor and gently disintegrating into a thin veil of silver mist, leaving both May and Beautifly bowing to each other at either side of the stage. Even the mysterious Nico's eyes widened at this achievement, recognising the girl as a worthy opponent. Drew, however, didn't even seem to care as he remained stood against the wall, his eyes trailing the ground, motionless.

'You'll see soon, May.' Drew's thoughts echoed through his mind as his expression suddenly switched to a glare, his eyes watching the viewing monitor closely. 'Very soon.'

~*~*~

"That's right, ladies and gentlemen!" came the voice of Alisa, the girl whom Ash, Brock and Dawn had met previously outside the carnival gates. "Step right up and grab your tickets for our carnival's official one-off Pokemon contest!"

Ash and Brock had both soon approached the enormous tent which was housing the contest where they both assumed Dawn was waiting eagerly.

Ash wasted no time in joining the queue, though Brock was having difficulty keeping his eyes off Alisa, whose legs seemed to go on forever up towards her hips. She was standing high atop a plinth where everyone could see her, and her formal business suit was now gone, replaced instead by a short navy blue skirt and lightly tanned leather jacket. In her hand she held a small microphone which was connected to some large, black speakers on either side of her, which she was using to give her announcement.

"Man, I hope this line doesn't take too long to go down..." Ash sighed, looking over at Paul who was standing beside him, his glare still evident. He had since returned his Elekid to its Pokeball, and looked ready to throttle somebody at a moment's notice. "Hey, have you ever been to a live contest before, Paul?"

"No." Paul grunted back sharply, folding his arms. "And why would I want to, anyway? Everyone knows coordinators are just cheap knock-offs who couldn't make it in the Pokemon League."

"Hey, that's not true!" Ash protested, frowning a little at his rival's remark. "Dawn works just as hard at her contests as I do at my Gym battles. It's no different from battling, they're just two different styles, is all."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu agreed happily, wagging its tail as it continued to sit lazily atop Ash's head.

"You'd never see me enter a contest." Paul continued, eying the rest of the line with contempt. "And I wouldn't be seen dead in one of those stupid penguin suits."

"You know, I've seen plenty of contests during my adventures." Ash remarked. "And I have a friend from Hoenn who I really admire. She took her contest challenge head-on and I saw what she had to go through. I don't think it's fair to just dismiss coordinators like that. Right, Brock?"

"What I wouldn't give to take Alisa head-on!" Brock replied, his eyes completely glazing over as he continued to stare at Alisa's legs.

"Pika..." Pikachu sighed.

"I know how you feel, pal..." Ash chuckled.

"Remind me again why I'm standing around with you bozos instead of training?" Paul mumbled underneath his breath as the line began to slowly move forward.

Eventually they had reached the ticket counter, with Brock's eyes still locked firmly onto their target of Alisa. Ash and Paul proceeded to collect their passes, and it wasn't until a quick shove to Brock's ribs courtesy of Paul's elbow that their older companion also gained access to the tent.

"Hey you guys!" Alisa acknowledged their presence, lowering the microphone a little and waving to the trio as they headed inside the tent. "Enjoy the show!"

The line that had once been waiting patiently for entry tickets had now formed into a second line that was waiting to be seated in the main contest hall. This process didn't take long however, and soon the hall was entirely packed with eager spectators watching the dimly-lit centre stage with fevered anticipation.

"Amazing how many people they've managed to seat in this place." Brock commented with an impressed tone to his voice. "It's almost as big and as grand as an official contest hall."

"Yeah, Dawn's gonna feel right at home!" Ash agreed. "I wonder if we'll see any powerful Pokemon from Sinnoh!"

Paul said nothing, his hands still folded across his chest and his expression still a scowl. Since he had waited all this time in line he figured he might as well at least attempt to enjoy himself, despite the fact that he highly doubted he could.

The carnival tent was immaculately decorated - red ribbons and blue streamers hung from almost every angle imaginable and overhead were several powerful spotlights aimed directly at the stage, designed to capture the very best of the starring Pokemon and their trainers. The stage itself was a large red platform which was raised several feet into the air to give the viewers the illusion that they were closer to the action than they actually were. In the centre of the platform was the painted image of a large blue ribbon, presumably the trophy which went to the victor of this event.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" came Alisa's voice over the loudspeaker, causing a sudden hush to descend over the enormous room. "Thank you for waiting! And now, the moment that you've all been waiting for! Sixty-four of the best coordinators around battle for your entertainment after a grueling preliminary appeal round... This is it, ladies and gentlemen! Let the battles begin... Now!"

Following this announcement huge loudspeakers on either side of the stage began to erupt into fast-paced dance music which shook the tent, prompting the entire crowd to roar with applause and anticipation as the spotlights which focused on the centre of the stage began to flash in several different neon colours.

The crowd's volume once again elevated at this announcement as the two opponents headed out onto the main stage to a shower of confetti and the three judges began to take their seats from the very back of the stage.

"Wow, this crowd is pumped!" Brock exclaimed, unable to stop himself from joining in as he noticed nurse Joy taking her judge's seat at the back of the tent.

"Well they should be," Paul grunted, applauding lightly so as not to feel singled-out, "they waited long enough to get here."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu agreed, causing sparks to flicker from its cheeks as its own way of applauding the contestants.

The battles soon got under way, and the sheer volume of contestants meant that things progressed very slowly in comparison to the flow of a normal contest. Whilst the rest of the crowd seemed happy spectating, Paul soon became disgruntled by the fifth battle.

"Oh, hey, could you get me some popcorn while you're up?" Ash asked, causing Paul to groan and exit the main hall immediately.

The inner-perimeter of the tent was almost entirely empty, though the roars of the excited crowd could still be vividly heard. In stark contrast to the contest hall, where Paul now stood was almost completely grey and drab, with several pipes and cables which operated the equipment from several large outdoor electrical outlets running across the length of the floor. Paul sighed, readying Elekid's Pokeball when suddenly he heard something from one of the winding corridors which arched around to the back of the tent.

"The name is Butch!" came a loud growl, before being followed by a heavy smacking sound as if someone had just gotten slapped.

"Quiet, idiot!" a female voice hushed as Paul pressed his back against the outer wall of the tent and peered inside an adjacent tent which seemed to double as a storage room. Piles and piles of boxes, many whose tops had been removed to reveal large amounts of Pokeballs inside, were lying idly around as five figures seemed to be in the process of unloading their cargo.

"Well well well, Jessie, I'm afraid I can't have you three second-rate clowns ruining this operation." the female continued, who Paul could now see from the corner of his eye. She had long, golden blonde hair which fell to her shoulders in two pigtails, and she wore a black, figure-hugging suit with a large red 'R' emblazoned on its chest, along with long white gloves and boots. The man beside her possessed short and scruffy jade-green hair and wore an identical outfit to her, only it was of course designed for a male body.

The other two humans in the room wore outfits which were also identical, save for the fact that instead of being predominantly black, they were coloured white. The female of this pair had long red hair which flowed down to the small of her back in one long stream of colour, whilst the male had pastel-blue hair which flowed elegantly across his face in waves. They were separated by a small, beige-coloured Pokemon with a long, curled-up tail and sharp whiskers which jutted out from its rather plump face. Paul immediately recognised these three as none other than Team Rocket - the bumbling organization that seemed to follow Ash and his friends wherever they went.

"Hey, we were here first!" the woman with the long red hair and fiery attitude known as Jessie snapped back. "You can't just come in here and start ruining our evil schemes!"

"I'll have you know that we were assigned to this mission by Giovanni himself, little miss," the blonde retorted, obviously frustrated, "so why don't you just run off to wherever you came from?"

"Yeah, Cassidy's right!" the man with the green hair, who was known as Butch, chimed in. "If you three mess this job up then we'll all get fired!"

Jessie and her two companions immediately froze at the man's words, quickly huddling into a corner in order to exchange whispers and strategies amongst one another. Eventually they resumed their original positions and the male of the group, who Paul vaguely remembered being called James, decided to speak up.

"In that case we should do our best to work together!" he suggested.

"You've GOT to be kidding..." Cassidy mumbled. "Why would we want to share our paycheck with YOU losers?"

"Because, Cassidy dear," Jessie began in the best innocent voice she could muster, "our darling Meowth has come up with a plan."

Butch and Cassidy blinked in unison at this, staring blankly at the small feline Pokemon which was now standing proudly before them.

"Ahem..." Meowth cleared his throat before enlightening his audience. "Imagine the boss taking a lovely stroll through his garden in Viridian city one day..."

Butch and Cassidy both nodded, allowing their minds to wander.

"He's a busy man as we all know, and so he doesn't have time to train his very own prized contest Pokemon." Meowth continued confidently. "So what should happen when he feels like hosting his very own Pokemon contest with his friends during a quiet summer get-together? Why, he'll want his very own contest Pokemon ready to be summoned at a moment's notice to help him secure victory!"

'This boss of theirs sure sounds like a moron...' Paul thought to himself as he continued to listen by the entrance to the adjacent tent.

"After he wins a perfect round in the makeshift contest the boss will look up towards the sky and reflect on his victory," Meowth explained, "thinking to himself 'thanks to the efforts of my favourite recruits Jessie, James, Cassidy, Bunch and of course the ever-so-talented and extraordinarily handsome Meowth I have been able to secure victory on this day, just as I will when I take over the entire world and own all the world's most powerful Pokemon!'."

Silence descended upon the room for a moment as Meowth finished up his story, prompting a look of shock to appear on both Butch and Cassidy's faces.

"Alright then!" Cassidy ordered, pointing towards the many crates which littered the storage tent. "Let's get to work!"

"WOBBUFFET!!" a loud voice added as a beam of light shot across the room, revealing a large, blue Pokemon with a black tail and indeterminable facial features which proceeded to slap its forehead.

"Back in your ball, Wobbuffet!" Jessie scolded.

"Wo~bbuffet!" the creature apologised as Paul began to slide away from the wall and head back towards the main contest hall where the battles were still taking place.

'Trying to steal Pokemon, huh?' he thought to himself, a smile crossing his lips. 'Maybe this contest thing won't be so lame after all...'

~*~*~

Time to answer some reviews.Swampert: shadow-tackle - think shadow-boxing - basically pretending to be battling when nothing's really there. It's used as a training method.Ames: No, I figure Ash is kinda dense and wouldn't think to explain it to Dawn.Uzamaki: I'll try and remember to add you ^^;Shadow: Thanks for the comment, and I can certainly appreciate your review knowing your despise of the ship. Though that does make me curious why you initally started reading it?Wayc: Thanks, as I mentioned in my PM, I wasn't sure but figured I should let you know in case ^^;Rae: Thanks ^_^

That was fun. I guess the whole gang (of major characters sans Misty) is here then; including Drew, May, Ash, Brock, Dawn and Paul.
What made this chapter comic was Paul's character, typical yet atypical in some strange way. His reaction was predictable and amusing.
So, I see Drew is here too, as well as an arrogant OC who seems to be a future rival or something. The Contest was described well and fluidly, so not problems here. Let's find out how Team Rocket manage to ruin another of their 'awesome plans'.

Shadow: Thanks for the comment, and I can certainly appreciate your review knowing your despise of the ship. Though that does make me curious why you initally started reading it?

and I'll answer with a few of my own quotes

Originally Posted by shadow_shipper

I'll try and read this one, because I know you're a great author, from your ChikoShipping story, but I can't guarantee you anything, that I'll keep on reading this :-/

and

Originally Posted by shadow_shipper

As I said, besides the main ship I'm not fond of, your writing is superb (kinda remindes me of my style a bit ^_^') and I'll try to be here as much as I can to read this...
except the parts, if there will be any, with AdvanceShipping fluff...I really can't stand those...

so untill the next chapter, keep ths up, it really has a promising future

does it answer your question ? Long story short : you're a great writer, and it would be stupid to miss such quality writing just cause I don't like the main ship.

on with the actual review !

Originally Posted by Gazmof

"Ah, it's nothing..." Dawn chuckled, waving away May's comment. "I was just thinking I haven't even told my friends I'm entering this. But I'm sure they'll probably come and take a look as soon as they hear about it anyway."

"Yeah, I think so." May laughed casually

I love how you're keeping the reunion of Ash and May "postponed" to the last minute :P kind of build drama/tension !

Originally Posted by Gazmof

"Now ladies and gentlemen," the voice of the announcer called out over the loudspeaker as yet another coordinator made their way to the main stage, "please welcome Drew Blackthorne!"

That...is not the name I'd see him with ^_^'
But hell, if Drew and Dawn are in this fic, I might stay for the heck of it !!
Put in some ocassionnal BelleShipping, don't bash Drew, and you've got a faithful reader in me
(cause the last AS fic I read kinda made him with a condescending attitude towards May...totally hypocrite and so on.)

Originally Posted by Gazmof

But why was here? Why now? Had he followed her here? Was this his way of getting revenge? Did he want her back? There were just too many questions and none of them could be answered to May's satisfaction.

Oh my...failed relationship ? This is very interessting

Originally Posted by Gazmof

"Heh," Nico mumbled, a smile returning to his face as he regained his composure. "I guess we'll have to let our Pokemon settle this, won't we?"

"Fine." Drew retorted, watching as Nico walked over to the other side of the room towards one of the vending machines where he proceeded to buy himself a soda.

Drew's going to demolish him...

Originally Posted by Gazmof

'I don't have time to waste on insects like you...' Drew thought to himself

see, that's what I don't "like" to see. Unless it has something to do with the "...I thought I knew him..." line from May. Which of course, is character development in your fic, portraying Drew turned as an arrogant and condescending (I've said it before) snob, which made May run away from him, and their failed relationship...
I have nothing to say there if it's the plot...

Originally Posted by Gazmof

"What!?" Paul snarled, doing his best to pull away from Ash, but the boy proved to have an unexpectedly strong grip. "Let go of me!"

"Come on!" Ash joked casually. "It'll be fun!"

"You gotta be kidding me..." Paul groaned, slowly accepting his fate as he was pulled towards the direction of a large, looming carnival tent where the contest was due to start very soon.

now this just doesn't feel right...
a) Paul would rather punch him in the face than actually letting him be dragged somewhere...
b) Even Ash sees when you shouldn't do something this dangerous, and he'd know when to stop and have that serious look on his face...like he had in the recent DP episodes...

but, a very fine way to have Paul meet the rest of the band

Originally Posted by Gazmof

Paul said nothing, his hands still folded across his chest and his expression still a scowl. Since he had waited all this time in line he figured he might as well at least attempt to enjoy himself, despite the fact that he highly doubted he could.

It would be funny/interessting if you made Drew and Paul completely switch personalities, with Paul being more open than he is.

Originally Posted by Gazmof

the man with the green hair, who was known as Butch, chimed in. "If you three mess this job up then we'll all get fired!"

Jessie and her two companions immediately froze at the man's words, quickly huddling into a corner in order to exchange whispers and strategies amongst one another. Eventually they resumed their original positions and the male of the group, who Paul vaguely remembered being called James, decided to speak up.

"In that case we should do our best to work together!" he suggested.

"You've GOT to be kidding..." Cassidy mumbled.

absolutely brilliant explosive situation ahead

Originally Posted by Gazmof

'This boss of theirs sure sounds like a moron...' Paul thought to himself as he continued to listen by the entrance to the adjacent tent.

this could have been put in italics, at least Paul's line.
But yeah, judging by what Meowth says since Hoenn, people who don't know Giovanni could think he's a retard -_-'

Originally Posted by Gazmof

'Trying to steal Pokemon, huh?' he thought to himself, a smile crossing his lips. 'Maybe this contest thing won't be so lame after all...'

Now...will he use this situation to join in, and take some pokémon for his elitist team ?
or while he sease this opportunity to be a hero, foil their plan and start his personality change ?

We'll soon find out

So I'm seeing characters that I like, the plot is getting under way, the shipping plot has endless possibilities at this point *coughBelleShippingcough* and plus, if you bring Misty in during future chapters, well, let's just say there will sure be heartbreak !

Keep on the brilliant work ! Description and writing near-flawless ! vivid and abundant !

Thanks for the reviews, you guys This was actually supposed to be finished a couple weeks back but things got in the way...

Originally Posted by EarthBorn

That was fun. I guess the whole gang (of major characters sans Misty) is here then; including Drew, May, Ash, Brock, Dawn and Paul.
What made this chapter comic was Paul's character, typical yet atypical in some strange way. His reaction was predictable and amusing.
So, I see Drew is here too, as well as an arrogant OC who seems to be a future rival or something. The Contest was described well and fluidly, so not problems here. Let's find out how Team Rocket manage to ruin another of their 'awesome plans'.

Heh, yeah. I think this was the last of laying the groundwork and next chapter we'll begin to get into the plot proper, or at least have some more character interactions.

Originally Posted by shadow_shipper

does it answer your question ? Long story short : you're a great writer, and it would be stupid to miss such quality writing just cause I don't like the main ship.

It does, thanks. That's very flattering of you to say, and I know how you feel - I'm still very impressed that you're fighting through the Advanceshipping part of the story just to see the plot (glad I decided not to make the ship the main focus, heh). But please don't take it personally if I offend one of your shippings during the course of the story ^^;;

Originally Posted by shadow_shipper

That...is not the name I'd see him with ^_^'
But hell, if Drew and Dawn are in this fic, I might stay for the heck of it !!
Put in some ocassionnal BelleShipping, don't bash Drew, and you've got a faithful reader in me
(cause the last AS fic I read kinda made him with a condescending attitude towards May...totally hypocrite and so on.)

Haha. I actually had real trouble with Drew's last name. Normally when a character doesn't have a popular fanon second name (such as May Maple) I'll put in their Japanese name to cover it (hence Dawn Hikari) but Drew Shuu sounded really, really stupid. I eventually came up with Blackthorne, as I thought it sounded kinda cool and also gave a reference to his Roselia/love of roses.

It's funny that you mention Belleshipping as I had been toying with the idea for a while now... But I don't wanna spoil anything ^^;

Originally Posted by shadow_shipper

now this just doesn't feel right...
a) Paul would rather punch him in the face than actually letting him be dragged somewhere...
b) Even Ash sees when you shouldn't do something this dangerous, and he'd know when to stop and have that serious look on his face...like he had in the recent DP episodes...

Hm, I have to disagree on this one (though I've only seen a grand total of two Paul episodes, so I'll admit that right now). To me Ash seems too dense to worry about his own safety ^^; Secondly, though Paul is a jerk, I don't think he could step across the line to physical jerk, hence why he was more shocked and just became dragged along rather than starting a fist fight. I think he knows Ash is harmless, really.

Originally Posted by shadow_shipper

this could have been put in italics, at least Paul's line.
But yeah, judging by what Meowth says since Hoenn, people who don't know Giovanni could think he's a retard -_-'

Ah, thanks. I've always put thought lines in single quotes and never really knew how else to do it.

It's funny; in the anime I absolutely can't stand TR, but when writing them in fics... They're just so loveable. I also miss the old Team Rocket of Kanto, back when the organization was still feared and they weren't just slapped on to each episode as an afterthought.

It's funny; in the anime I absolutely can't stand TR, but when writing them in fics... They're just so loveable. I also miss the old Team Rocket of Kanto, back when the organization was still feared and they weren't just slapped on to each episode as an afterthought.

true...*sighs*...true...since Hoenn and Meowth's ridiculous daydreams about the Boss/plots to steal pokémon/rewards, they've became really boring to me -_-

the part on taking it personally if you "offend" any ship I support, well, it might make me grit my teeth, but I knew what I was going into so no problem there

Drew Shuu does sound stupid ^_^'
But yeah, Blackthorn...just seems too dark (Black and thorn) though the pun on thorn was a nice find.

Yes, Paul does know Ash is harmless xD

For the italics, I usually put inner-discussions and thoughts in italics, it's kinda a visual aid

First off, lovely display of each of the contesters. I can't write contest stuff if my life depended on it, but you clearly make it seems like it's directly from the anime. I don't see that much talent around in this forum really who can pull it off like you do.

As for characters, wow, Dawn would so go after Drew, she's like... I dunno. XD Hard to put it in words, but yeah. What a little minx... :3 But I like your depictions of all the characters, especially Paul. He was so cool, even when there is a risk of Ash's idiocy infecting him. ;P Also, Team Rocket is so well portrayed in this, it's fun to read about them... but god Meowth, you make Giovanni sound like a moron really... XD

Fanboyish response, I know, but really, I am addicted to this. Don't fail on me Gaz, you can do it. T_T

*cough cough* Ahem....Ok, Can't Can't Can't wait...til Ash finally sees May again! ^^ EEEeeee! I like the new OC Nico you added in too. Drew, well he's our second favourite bad boy in the series, and kudos for adding him in! ^^ Dawn...hm...well Dawn, I haven't seen much of her yet, cos I only have seen the epis on like youtube and stuffs. So I don't really favour her much. Though I can commend her fashion sense for one! lol

Paul. Well I don't really like him, because I'm attatched to my beloved Gary #^_^# But somehow, your writing style has somewhat, urged me to actually like his character. I'll take my hats off to you for that. And lol Brock! Ahhh there's never a god story without our lovable perverted Brock! ^^

Gee....I'm reading over this, and I find that my review sound so ridiculously crap and sooo childish. But my fangirliness fowards you make me like this! EEeeeee! ^^

Unfortunately work on the third chapter is progressing slowly right now due to roommate issues (if anyone wants to save me, please do T_T; ) so I wouldn't hold your breath anytime soon. Regardless, it won't be abandoned, trust me on that ^^; Perhaps I'll get some time to write it over Thanksgiving break...